The Nighthowlers:Ghosts
by Blacknight655
Summary: The war may be over but for those who lived it the fight goes on.
1. Chapter 1: Bunker Buster

Chapter 1: Bunker buster.

Whistling floated through the maze of effluent filled tunnels. The song, 'Over the hills and far away', spoke of memories that had been locked away inside the sewer workers mind and away from prying eyes for years. The horse had seen things that no mammal ever should, he had done worse and this song was the only glimpse others ever saw of it beneath his grey fur.

"That song again huh?" His co-worker pried with naive enthusiasm. "You ever gonna tell me why you keep whistling it?" It was a glimpse and as such you needed context to understand it.

Context he was in no hurry to share. "When your old enough" A fatigued sigh accompanied his words. It was unbearably humid and the almost overwhelming smell of bodily waste was so thick you could see it rising from the water.

The apprentice looked incredulous. "Old enough? Your only, what?, 8 years older than me?" He was about to turn around and give the weasel something to chew on, it was not a subject he enjoyed talking about and if his own family didn't know anything about it. Well why should he share with this giant pain in the neck.

But a strange smell stopped him. It wasn't of sewage and that was one of the reasons it stood out. The other was he recognised it as that of deaths buffet. "You smell that?"

His colleague was still irked over the age comment "What? Oh I get it play a prank on the apprentice huh? Yeh it smells of…" He'd stopped listening. Instead, using his torch he slowly, cautiously advanced into the darkness. Slowly something began to appear.

He froze, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open, as the torch illuminated the source of the smell. The weasel was by now in a full on rant "Are you liste…lis…li. Oh Fuck!"

2 Weeks later

The bull pen was alive with the usual collection of whoops, cheers and rapturous laughter. Nick was seated in his and Judy's usual spot, right at the front on an over sized chair with the bunny being forced to stand on the seat. Nick was at least able to sit down and still be able to see over the desk.

To their right sat officer Savannah Lupus a new addition to the precinct though the maned she-wolf had been a police officer for roughly the same time as Judy just in Ewe York. It was Nick and Judy's task to help orientate her with Zootopia.

Like most maned wolfs she looked like a red fox on a set of stilts. Her species was often mocked for their strange proportions whereby their body and head were only slightly bigger than a fox's, But their arms and legs were the same size as a grey wolf's. Savannah herself came to around the same hight as wolfford and her fur was the colour of embers from a recently burnt out fire. Her ears were slightly rounded but maintained the same basic shape as Nicks and her eyes were an icy bluish grey. The raised fur of her mane went from between her shoulder blades, up the back of her neck and between her ears forming a sort of raven black Mohawk.

A frustrated growl drew Nicks attention to his, usually bubbly, partner. She was typing away on her phone in such away the fox was worried she'd put her paw through it. "What's up carrots?" he inquired with a lazy grin that morphed into one of fake shock. "You wouldn't happen to have a new boyfriend? And you didn't tell me! Oh Hopps" Falling back against the chair with the back of his paw placed against his forehead for added effect.

Judy looked up, lowering the phone slightly, and tried to look irritated though the ghost of a smile pulled at her lips. "You jump on conclusions faster than my parents slick..." she started but was cut off

"We Foxes prefer to pounce, but continue"

"Pounce then. Anyway I forgot to phone my parents last night and they've gone into a full on melt down" Her exasperation was clear as yet another message arrived.

A chuckle came from their colleague "They just worry about you Hopps" Lupus' voice was smooth as silk but with a hard no nonsense undertone. If sounds could be visualised Nick imaged her voice would be like pouring syrup over a pebble. The merest hint of a New York accent also tugged at it.

Another message flashed on the screen "Oh for carrots sake" The rabbit cursed.

Nick knew what it was like having a parent wanting to know where you were and what you were doing at all times. After his time in Somalia his mother had insisted on seeing him daily. Though she'd recently allowed it to drop to once a week, Nick could sympathise with his partner. But that didn't mean he wouldn't poke fun. "Language young lady"

Before Judy could manage a retort their boss entered "SHUT IT!" the Buffalo roared bringing instant order to the chaos. Like with the Nighthowlers case he stood in front of a map of the city with the pictures of its latest maniac's rampage pinned to it. "Now as your all aware, 6 murders have occurred in as many weeks" The wolf butcher murders. Wolf corpses had begun appearing in various levels of dismemberment and decay. All male's in their 20's they'd been tortured to death before being dumped in a smorgasbord of locations. One skinned and hung upside down in an abandoned warehouse, another nailed to a sewer wall and the latest had been found in a bug processing plant…being processed. "I've got the mayors office calling me day and night to get results so needless to say this is everyone's top priority".

Each pair were given a file detailing one of the victims, everyone except a certain grey bunny and red fox. "Uh sir you missed us" the rabbit pointed out.

Bogo casually looked up, peering over the top of his glasses. "It would seem I have Hopps" It was a statement made nonchalantly. The large Buffalo enjoyed the down cast look on the rabbit and head tilt from the two canines that had their ears flopping over.

Savannah wasn't surprised she hadn't been trusted with this assignment, she was new after all and didn't really know the city or mammals in it. But not giving the mammals responsible for bringing down two mayors and a conspiracy against all the predators in the city? Chief must have found out Nick had been behind the whoopee cushion filled with whipped cream on his chair…

Nick was also reaching that conclusion. But as he went to speak "I'll tell you why in my office Wilde" Bogo cut him off and the fox gulped at the implication. A few of the others passed him sympathetic sniggers. "Dismissed!"

5 minutes later

5 minutes saw the trio in the chiefs office seated again on an oversized chair. ' _You'd think they'd have sorted this out by now'_ Bogo's office was exactly what you'd expect from a police chief. A identical map to the one in the bull pen adorned one wall while the opposite was covered by an enormous book case however instead of books in contained files. Hundreds and hundreds of files. Atop the chief's desk sat several pictures although from where Nick and the others were they couldn't tell what was on them as well as 2 trays for incoming and out going paperwork.

"Sir if I may…" Nick began fully expecting he knew the reason why they'd been called in but again their boss interrupted him.

"Wilde before you put your paw in it, again, let me speak." The apprehension in his voice caught the trio off guard. They were used to the fire eating Buffalo's authoritative, angry, even scary persona so to see a more reserved and worried version immediately set alarm bells ringing. We have a suspect for the wolf butcher.

The chiefs tone confused them. Why did he sound so conflicted? "Thats great chief" The rabbit chirped excited the only thing keeping he in her seat was Bogo's tone. She still needed to work on her unbridled enthusiasm but Nick was even more confused. They finally had a break in the case and the chief was acting melancholy.

"I'm with Hopps sir. Thats great news but why are you so…concerned" Savannah added. The internal investigator in her already working on deciphering the chief.

Bogo reached into his desk and pulled out a hefty looking file. There was silence for a minute as Bogo collected his thoughts. Finally he spoke, voice low, Eye's staring straight into Nicks emerald orbs. "Wilde, I know about the 16th" The fox's blood ran cold and his left ear twitched. He'd successfully pushed those memories to the back of his mind, yet in that instant a thousand images and films fired through Nicks head. Like a tightly compressed spring being released they fired themselves around the inside of his skull demolishing the sandbag, and concrete walls he'd built and used for protection.

The two females looked at the fox and then each other. Both saw the immediate impact the seemingly innocuous statement had on Nick as the air around him seemed to chill and the vulpes' fur stood on end, his fantastically fluffy tail shooting out behind him. "Nick?" The fox's head snapped in the direction of the voice, and paw placed on his shoulder, to find a all to familiar golden vixen staring back with the remains of a slowly sinking bridge behind her. "Nick?" He blinked and the vixen was gone, replaced by the police chiefs office and a graphite bunny with eyes of…amethyst.

' _Oh my…'_

Judy regarded him with worry etched on her face. This was new. She'd never seen him so spoked before, like a thousand skeletons from his closet had suddenly awoken. And what was the 16th? Lupus couldn't see Nicks expression but his body language told her plenty. He'd been hiding something and had just been caught red pawed. She filed this away for later.

"Wilde?" Before any of them could act of their thoughts their boss brought them back to the business at paw. "That conversation is not going to happen here but it is why you are here." The fox, though still spooked, had confusion slowly sneaking its way back onto his features. The chief maintained his authoritative, sympathetic tone. "We found a single hair with our latest victim and from there we got a partial DNA match." With that he slide the file across his desk to Nick. "You should recognise them"

The two females on either side of him waited with a mixture of unease and impatience as he picked up the collection of documents. With one final look at the chief, who nodded, he open the front cover. His face dropped and he choked on his own breath. He did indeed recognise the suspect.

At the top of the page and next to the customary mugshot, in perfect black and white ink, was the name:

Jonathan Spencer Blackwell.


	2. Chapter 2: Interrogation

Chapter 2: Interrogation

"Nick? Nick?!" The red fox sped through the halls of the precinct heading straight for the interrogation rooms. They'd learnt that John had been picked up late last night from the Glacier hills military base. A flurry of emotions flew through his mind. Anger, confusion and excitement all at once.

5 years. 5 years without ever seeing or hearing from him. Nick had jumped on a grenade for this guy and now he was back and worse was murdering mammals! ' _we don't know that yet'_ His DNA was at one of the crime scenes. ' _It was only a partial match.'_

"Nick! Would you slow down!?" Judy was having to run to keep up with the focused fox as he marched towards the room where his old friend was now residing. She drew herself up in front of the embattled fox finally stopping him just outside the interrogation room. She and Nick were incredibly close, they did everything together and told each other everything and yet Nick had hidden this from her. She still didn't know what it was exactly but she was going to get answers and get them soon damn it!

The graphite coloured rabbit, who had a will made of diamond, found her anger evaporating and her resolve weakening as she looked into her partners leafy eyes. These gateways showed her what was going on in Nicks head. A diamond will maybe but she had a heart of marshmallow, especially in regards to this fox. But she still needed to know something. Her face and temper may have softened but she kept an edge of harshness to her voice as she pushed. "Nick who is this guy and how do you know him?"

While all this was going on Savannah had been leaning against the door to observation scrutinising the scene. The slight flicks of the officers tails, the raising and lowering of Judy's ears, and a faint twitch in Nicks abdomen. Most would miss these reactions but it painted a water colour masterpiece of the turmoil playing out inside both as well as between both. Judy's foot was also beginning to thump as she questioned the fox the unmistakable tell of irritation. It was fairly common in rabbits but this one had a seriously bad case.

The fox knew this rabbit all to well and knew she wasn't going to let this go. "I think its best if he explained, Judy" It would kill two birds with one stone he reasoned. Hearing the use of her name rather than one of the usual nicknames, and the serious tone it was uttered in, silently nodded though her worries were still very much present. As Nick took a placating breath and Judy straightened herself, readied the files and rose her ears to their full majesty, Savannah silently slipped into observation where Officers Fangmeyer and Wolford waited.

With that Nick slowly pushed on the large metallic, yet surprisingly light door.

It was definitely John. He looked just like he had when Nick had last seen him right down to the confident, no shit taking posture he held. With his smouldering golden eyes and his brilliantly fluffy fur, even if it was covered in dust and dirt, the pure white fur of his front seemed flawless. The rusty fur along his undamaged arm, back and head appeared fresh and undamaged. He wore a plain olive green T-shirt and camouflage combat slacks together with his trademark black boots. The shirt allowed all to see the large burn that ran down the left side of his torso and even though Nick couldn't see it, his prosthetic leg was given away by the odd shape his right trouser leg cut. The only differences he could see where a few more small scars across his arms and a paw full on his face. The most noticeable being across the end of his nose.

The muscular wolf looked up from the news paper he'd been reading and as their eyes met Nick could tell something wasn't right with his old friend. The His eyes may have still smouldered but they didn't burn like a fire as they once had. "Nick, Officer Hopps" he addressed folding the paper and placing it o the table. Even his voice was the same, gravelly and deep encased in a British accent. Nicks name was spoken with a small amount of warmth and pride as he recognised the red fox now wearing blue. But Judy's was spoken with frosty respect something that didn't go unnoticed by the rabbit.

"Sergeant" Judy returned with her own icy tone.

"Its Lieutenant actually" The formal way he addressed the rabbit reminded Nick of the way he spoke to Weatherby, one of the most hated officers in the 16th.

"Lieutenant" The lack of trust she had for the wolf was obvious in the way she spoke.

As the two officers took their seat John's attention moved to Nick as he remembered him being alot more talkative than this. And yet the red fox just stared, studying him with his mouth sown tightly shut. "Red? You in there?" John waved a paw in front of Nicks face to snap him out of whatever stupor he was in.

Nick regarded at the wolf before him. 5 years his mind repeated. 5 years.

Judy cleared her throat and started the tape recorder keeping her professionally cold tone. "Date is July 5th 2017, 11:00, Interview subject Lieutenant Jonathan Spencer Blackwell. Lieutenant Blackwell where were you on the night of June 12th at 03:00 hours?" This was the estimated time of death of the victim.

The wolf gave a final glance at Nick before coolly answering "Korea, Manpo province along the Chinese boarder."

An incredulous smirk appeared on the rabbits face as she produced the DNA result sliding it in front of the wolf "Then explain how a piece of your fur was found on the body of a murder victim"

John looked down at the paper, conveniently sized for him to be able to see, and as he mulled the question over in his head his tongue pushed out one of his cheeks. "Tooth fairy?" came his lazy reply.

Judy raised an eye brow "The tooth fairy? Is that your official answer?" Nick remained silent wanting to see how John accounted for his fur and had to admit it was classic John.

John could tell this rabbit, like most police, didn't trust him in the slightest and could also tell he was already getting under her fur. Not that his face portrayed that fact, staying in a respectful neutral setting. "The only other explanation is that its not mine, but you wouldn't believe that."

Damn right she wouldn't "DNA doesn't lie" she stated matter of factly.

A small chuckle came from the wolf "No, but facts can." The rabbit and fox spared a look as Nick considered the possibility that his friend had gone nuts…well more nuts. "Its all in how their presented." Their suspect broke the silence. "For example you present this evidence as a definitive match however it is not it's only a partial match." He explained pointing at a difference in the results. "The kind of match that you may find between close relatives" words flowed off his tongue as he casually shot holes through the evidence presented.

Nick was left slightly surprised by how easily he had done it while those unseen behind the one way mirror began whispering to each other. Judy may have been on the defensive after that but she still had one way to counter attack. Resettling herself into her dominant, confident pose she played her ace card. "But according to your file you don't have any relatives"

John didn't even flinch. He obviously expected this "That we know of."

"Right. So an estranged relative of yours is murdering wolfs in the same city you just so happen to be in?" The rabbit scoffed.

The battle scared wolf shrugged "Stranger things have happened Officer Hopps. Like a mayor injecting predators with a neurotoxin that drives them savage to divide and conquer the population, and therefore remain in power." He had her there…again.

It was at this point that Nick broke his silence as he ended the recording. "You realise we will have to verify your whereabouts around the time of the murder. Until then you'll be held in custody. All standard procedure you understand" John nodded at the formal address. When the fox next spoke it was far more informal leaning back in his chair. "However I still have questions"

"Thought you would red" he sounded sombre as if he wasn't looking forward to the coming conversation.

Judy took that moment to speak up after being shown up by the uneducated mammal before her. "Could you first explain who you are and how you know my partner?" She was obviously smarting.

As if reading from a script John explained. "Well you know I'm an officer in the 16th assault engineer battalion of the 75th infantry regiment, or as most know us Nighthowlers, and at one point I was Nick's sergeant." He then turned back to the fox. "What you wanna know Wilde?"

The fox took a moment to organise the questions bouncing around inside his fuzzy head. "5 years John. 5 years. Without a word John." The wolf leant back in his chair, scratching his throat, as he already knew the next word. "Why?"

Lowering his paws as he placed it between his legs and on his chair. "Because mammals tainted by a past like yours and mine don't get very far in life, even if they are innocent. I didn't go through the trouble of saving you from a penal battalion only to have you beaten to death by an angry mob." His voice started calm, brotherly, but began to increase in venom as he spoke. He must have realised this as he took a moment to calm himself. "And from where I'm sitting I'd say it was the right decision."

"I thought you where dead. I mourned for you and the others. I jumped on a fucking grenade for you!" He pointed an accusing finger at the larger predator his voice raising in volume and passion. "I'd moved on!" Judy starred at her normally level headed partner, wide eyed. The only time she'd seen him act like this was after the press conference. But Nicks finger dropped and his voice lowered "And now here you are again. Dragging me back in."

John was silent for a moment, his eyes burning holes in Nicks as the wolf needed him to listen to his next sentence. "Yeh I am. But not through my own acts…"

"That we know of." Nobody had noticed Savannah enter the room just in case Nick did something really stupid. John didn't even look at her.

"But look what you have Wilde. A respectable job, a near celebrity status and, if my nose doesn't deceive me, a…close friend" Judy turned strawberry red and her face dropped, as did Nicks.

Lupus looked between her two superiors "Really?" She chuckled…before falling deathly silent when Judy turned around.

The wolf took a moment to regard the maned wolf freeze before the bunny with a cheeky grin. "Can you honestly say all this would have happened had I kept in touch?" No Nick couldn't. He knew that penal soldiers had gotten a raw deal after the war, even by army standards. He remained silent and it was then his brain finally caught up with everything John had said.

"Wait? Saved me?" John went to elaborate but a speaker came to life with Bogo on the other end.

"Times up Wilde." Wolford and Fangmeyer entered and slapped a pair of paw cuffs on around John's wrists, the snapping of the locks resonated around the room. As the wolf stood Judy appreciated how big he truly was as he stood a full head taller than Wolford and the lack of fur on his left side meant there was no barrier, other than a t shirt, hiding his well developed muscles. It took a lot to intimidate Judy but this guy did.

Without another word John was led out the room, his back straight and head forward. Text book soldier. The three still left in the room sat in silence as the answers and new questions they now possessed where slowly organised. They felt as if they somehow knew less now than when they'd walked in. One thing was for certain though something very odd was going on.


End file.
